I've just purchased $7000 of Digital Photography gear and plan to do some serious semi-pro photography. Does anyone else here have any serious or semi serious interests in this topic? Note that digital cameras are rapidly becoming cheaper and with the 16.7 MP cameras they now easily outperform 35mm film. Film is a thing of the past and digital is the future. Threads should include both the technology and the art of photography. Hopefully we can post quite a few pics, if not here then I'll create a site that we can link to. Forum would be for beginners, amateurs, semi-pros, and even pros if we have any. I'm definitely interested in trying to make money from this so I'm looking for any opportunities. Please vote accordingly. Cris
I became a bit of a fan of digital photography after puchasing my first digital camera a couple of years ago. For a start, it's MUCH cheaper than film. You can play around with shots and not have to worry about development costs. But I don't know if sciforums is the right place for a dedicated subforum for digital photography. There are plenty of excellent forums out there for that kind of thing, complete with contests and member photo galleries etc. So, I voted "No." This is not to say that I wouldn't appreciate some discussion from time to time in the "Arts" subforum...
Hell I would say yes and I would also say yes to other types of digital creative media forums; it may even attract advertisers who could help to keep Sciforums going. Just because there are myriad specialist sites, it doesn't mean that this community can't exchange ideas between ourselves.
I voted no. 1. There's the arts forum that covers it 2. I agree with James about the specialised forums.
No for we already have an art forum here now, just post your pics there. So what did you purchase for the 7 grand?
For that kind of money he could have purchased a semi-pro photographer that does all the work for him! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I bought a 1 meg camera and use photoshop to do things to the photos. That's all anyone needs today if you're just doing stuff on the PC to view it on a monitor.There's a program called "Genuine Fractles" out there which allows you to expotentially incerease the size of your digital pictures to any size (including a billboard) without loosing the look of the origanal for it keeps adding pixels to the areas that are being enlarged. It's quite a program and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to enlarge a 1 meg picture onto a print.
I don't think they sell 1mega-pixel cameras any more. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Maybe in cell phones only
cosmic, Digital SLR camera body - Canon EOS 20D 8.2mp - about $1350 Plan to buy the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II (16.7mp) in about a year - cost is currently about $8000. All the lenses listed here are compatible. Canon Pro lenses - EF 16-35 2.8L USM - about $1300 EF 24-70 2.8L USM - about $1200 EF 70-200 2.8L IS USM - about $1700 Other stuff - 580EX Flash 2 x 2GB Compact Flash II cards Extra battery Lens Hoods Remote control To come - filters and some macro and other prime lenses, plus a long telephoto around 400-500.
Have you ever checked out Genuime Fractals yet? It lets you enlarge without the need for so many megapixeles cameras. Before investing over 8 grand check it out and you'll be suprised as to what it can do with what you have already. http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__Cano...dy_Only_Black,__7139626/search=digital camera Canon EOS 350D Digital Rebel XT Digital SLR Camera 8.0 megapixels Body Onlyonly $733.99 What kind of photography do you do? I like outdoor and sports myself .
cosmic, My prints are around the 12 x 18, 20 x 30, and 24 x 36. At those sizes the raw detail must be present in the source data. I cannot conceive a means that would provide detail that wasn't present in the source. So I have not looked at the Fractal suggestion yet. Prices of cameras and equipment offer some difficulty - I saw my 20D on sale for $789 but I resisted. There are many disreputable companies who use bait and switch tactics, and these are very prevalant in the photographic equipment trade. If on the order form you have to provdie two mandatory phone numbers then that is a strong clue that your order will not be processed until a salesman has called you and you have agreed to purchase what they really want to sell. As for types of of work - haven't specialized yet - don't like sports for sure, love macro work on small flowers and small objects, love animals and birds, sunrises, and night scenes of cities. Apart from that, anything unusual that presents itself that produces a WOW factor.
Looks like there is not a good justfication for a DP forum here. Not really surprised but worth asking. Thanks everyone - I won't pursue this any further. Cris
I voted yes, but I guess it's too late. I'm not sure that digital cameras will entirely replace film, at least I hope not. It seems that film cameras still handle long night exposure better than most digi cams. 20 D is a great piece of equipment, my only complaint is that it does not have a spot meter. You should also invest in a good tripod, that is, if you already don't have one.
Circe - thanks for the comments, if there is sudden increase in yes votes then I'll reconsider. But no, film is nearly dead now, and will be dead shortly. Kodak has already announced it is transferring to digital, Ilford is in financial trouble and Agfa has announced it is leaving the film business. At 16.7mp that is a close rival to medium format film with image quality, so all that remains for film is large format and we can see digital replacing that within the next few years. Now that dSLRs are now readily available and all that that technology offers then the pros are switching to digital in droves.
Why do you hope that film doesnt get replaced? Digital quality is bound to increase and become better and better as it grows and matures?
